ENCYCLICAL
OF POPE BENEDICT XV ON ST. JEROME
TO ALL THE PATRIARCHS, PRIMATES, ARCHBISHOPS,
BISHOPS, AND ORDINARIES IN UNION WITH
THE APOSTOLIC SEE.
1. Since the Holy Spirit, the
Comforter, had bestowed the Scriptures
on the human race for their instruction
in Divine things, He also raised up
in successive ages saintly and learned
men whose task it should be to develop
that treasure and so provide for the
faithful plenteous "consolation
from the Scriptures."[1] Foremost
among these teachers stands St. Jerome.
Him the Catholic Church acclaims and
reveres as her "Greatest Doctor,"
divinely given her for the understanding
of the Bible. And now that the fifteenth
centenary of his death is approaching
we would not willingly let pass so favorable
an opportunity of addressing you on
the debt we owe him. For the responsibility
of our Apostolic office impels us to
set before you his wonderful example
and so promote the study of Holy Scripture
in accordance with the teaching of our
predecessors, Leo XIII and Pius X, which
we desire to apply more precisely still
to the present needs of the Church.
For St. Jerome - "strenuous Catholic,
learned in the Scriptures,"[2]
"teacher of Catholics,"[3]
"model of virtue, world's teacher"[4]
- has by his earnest and illuminative
defense of Catholic doctrine on Holy
Scripture left us most precious instructions.
These we propose to set before you and
so promote among the children of the
Church, and especially among the clergy,
assiduous and reverent study of the
Bible.
2. No need to remind you, Venerable
Brethren, that Jerome was born in Stridonia,
in a town "on the borders of Dalmatia
and Pannonia";[5] that from his
infancy he was brought up a Catholic;[6]
that after his baptism here in Rome[7]
he lived to an advanced age and devoted
all his powers to studying, expounding,
and defending the Bible. At Rome he
had learned Latin and Greek, and hardly
had he left the school of rhetoric than
he ventured on a Commentary on Abdias
the Prophet. This "youthful piece
of work"[8] kindled in him such
love of the Bible that he decided -
like the man in the Gospel who found
a treasure - to spurn "any emoluments
the world could provide,"[9] and
devote himself wholly to such studies.
Nothing could deter him from this stern
resolve. He left home, parents, sister,
and relatives; he denied himself the
more delicate food he had been accustomed
to, and went to the East so that he
might gather from studious reading of
the Bible the fuller riches of Christ
and true knowledge of his Savior.[10]
Jerome himself tells us in several places
how assiduously he toiled:
An eager desire to learn obsessed me.
But I was not so foolish as to try and
teach myself. At Antioch I regularly
attended the lectures of Apollinaris
of Laodicea; but while I learned much
from him about the Bible, I would never
accept his doubtful teaching about its
interpretation.[11]
3. From Antioch be betook to
the desert of Chalcis, in Syria, to
perfect himself in his knowledge of
the Bible, and at the same time to curb
"youthful desires" by means
of hard study. Here he engaged a convert
Jew to teach him Hebrew and Chaldaic.
What a toil it was! How difficult I
found it! How often I was on the point
of giving it up in despair, and yet
in my eagerness to learn took it up
again! Myself can bear witness of this,
and so, too, can those who had lived
with me at the time. Yet I thank God
for the fruit I won from that bitter
seed.[12]
4. Lest, however, he should
grow idle in this desert where there
were no heretics to vex him, Jerome
betook himself to Constantinople, where
for nearly three years he studied Holy
Scripture under St. Gregory the Theologian,
then Bishop of that See and in the height
of his fame as a teacher. While there
he translated into Latin Origen's Homilies
on the Prophets and Eusebius' Chronicle;
he also wrote on Isaias' vision of the
Seraphim. He then returned to Rome on
ecclesiastical business, and Pope Damasus
admitted him into his court.[13] However,
he let nothing distract him from continual
occupation with the Bible,[14] and the
task of copying various manuscripts,[15]
as well as answering the many questions
put to him by students of both sexes.[16]
5. Pope Damasus had entrusted
to him a most laborious task, the correction
of the Latin text of the Bible. So well
did Jerome carry this out that even
today men versed in such studies appreciate
its value more and more. But he ever
yearned for Palestine, and when the
Pope died he retired to Bethlehem to
a monastery nigh to the cave where Christ
was born. Every moment he could spare
from prayer he gave to Biblical studies.
Though my hair was now growing gray
and though I looked more like professor
than student, yet I went to Alexandria
to attend Didymus' lectures. I owe him
much. What I did not know I learned.
What I knew already I did not lose through
his different presentation of it. Men
thought I had done with tutors; but
when I got back to Jerusalem and Bethlehem
how hard I worked and what a price I
paid for my night-time teacher Baraninus!
Like another Nicodemus he was afraid
of the Jews![17]
6. Nor was Jerome content merely
to gather up this or that teacher's
words; he gathered from all quarters
whatever might prove of use to him in
this task. From the outset he had accumulated
the best possible copies of the Bible
and the best commentators on it, but
now he worked on copies from the synagogues
and from the library formed at Caesarea
by Origen and Eusebius; he hoped by
assiduous comparison of texts to arrive
at greater certainty touching the actual
text and its meaning. With this same
purpose he went all through Palestine.
For he was thoroughly convinced of the
truth of what he once wrote to Domnio
and Rogatian:
A man will understand the Bible better
if he has seen Judaea with his own eyes
and discovered its ancient cities and
sites either under the old names or
newer ones. In company with some learned
Hebrews I went through the entire land
the names of whose sites are on every
Christian's lips.[18]
7. He nourished his soul unceasingly
on this most pleasant food: he explained
St. Paul's Epistles; he corrected the
Latin version of the Old Testament by
the Greek; he translated afresh nearly
all the books of the Old Testament from
Hebrew into Latin; day by day he discussed
Biblical questions with the brethren
who came to him, and answered letters
on Biblical questions which poured in
upon him from all sides; besides all
this, he was constantly refuting men
who assailed Catholic doctrine and unity.
Indeed, such was his love for Holy Scripture
that he ceased not from writing or dictating
till his hand stiffened in death and
his voice was silent forever. So it
was that, sparing himself neither labor
nor watching nor expense, he continued
to extreme old age meditating day and
night beside the Crib on the Law of
the Lord; of greater profit to the Catholic
cause by his life and example in his
solitude than if he had passed his life
at Rome, the capital of the world.
8. After this preliminary account
of St. Jerome's life and labors we may
now treat of his teaching on the divine
dignity and absolute truth of Scripture.
You will not find a page in his writings
which does not show clearly that he,
in common with the whole Catholic Church,
firmly and consistently held that the
Sacred Books - written as they were
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit
- have God for their Author, and as
such were delivered to the Church. Thus
he asserts that the Books of the Bible
were composed at the inspiration, or
suggestion, or even at the dictation
of the Holy Spirit; even that they were
written and edited by Him. Yet he never
questions but that the individual authors
of these Books worked in full freedom
under the Divine afflatus, each of them
in accordance with his individual nature
and character. Thus he is not merely
content to affirm as a general principle
- what indeed pertains to all the sacred
writers - that they followed the Spirit
of God as they wrote, in such sort that
God is the principal cause of all that
Scripture means and says; but he also
accurately describes what pertains to
each individual writer. In each case
Jerome shows us how, in composition,
in language, in style and mode of expression,
each of them uses his own gifts and
powers; hence he is able to portray
and describe for us their individual
character, almost their very features;
this is especially so in his treatment
of the Prophets and of St. Paul. This
partnership of God and man in the production
of a work in common Jerome illustrates
by the case of a workman who uses instruments
for the production of his work; for
he says that whatsoever the sacred authors
say "Is the word of God, and not
their own; and what the Lord says by
their mouths He says, as it were, by
means of an instrument."[19]
9. If we ask how we are to explain
this power and action of God, the principal
cause, on the sacred writers we shall
find that St. Jerome in no wise differs
from the common teaching of the Catholic
Church. For he holds that God, through
His grace, illumines the writer's mind
regarding the particular truth which,
"in the person of God," he
is to set before men; he holds, moreover,
that God moves the writer's will - nay,
even impels it - to write; finally,
that God abides with him unceasingly,
in unique fashion, until his task is
accomplished. Whence the Saint infers
the supreme excellence and dignity of
Scripture, and declares that knowledge
of it is to be likened to the "treasure"[20]
and the "pearl beyond price,"[21]
since in them are to be found the riches
of Christ[22] and "silver wherewith
to adorn God's house."[23]
10. Jerome also insists on the
supereminent authority of Scripture.
When controversy arose he had recourse
to the Bible as a storehouse of arguments,
and he used its testimony as a weapon
for refuting his adversaries' arguments,
because he held that the Bible's witness
afforded solid and irrefutable arguments.
Thus, when Helvidius denied the perpetual
virginity of the Mother of God, Jerome
was content simply to reply:
Just as we do not deny these things
which are written, so do we repudiate
things that are not written. That God
was born of a Virgin we believe, because
we read it. That Mary was married after
His birth we do not believe because
we do not read it.[24]
11. In the same fashion he undertakes
to defend against Jovinian, with precisely
the same weapons, the Catholic doctrines
of the virginal state, of perseverance,
of abstinence, and of the merit of good
works:
In refuting his statements I shall rely
especially on the testimony of Scripture,
lest he should grumble and complain
that he has been vanquished rather by
my eloquence than by the truth.[25]
12. So, too, when defending
himself against the same Helvidius,
he says: "He was, you might say,
begged to yield to me, and be led away
as a willing and unresisting captive
in the bonds of truth."[26] Again,
"We must not follow the errors
of our parents, nor of those who have
gone before us; we have the authority
of the Scriptures and God's teaching
to command us."[27] Once more,
when showing Fabiola how to deal with
critics, he says:
When you are really instructed in the
Divine Scriptures, and have realized
that its laws and testimonies are the
bonds of truth, then you can contend
with adversaries; then you will fetter
them and lead them bound into captivity;
then of the foes you have made captive
you will make freemen of God.[28]
13. Jerome further shows that
the immunity of Scripture from error
or deception is necessarily bound up
with its Divine inspiration and supreme
authority. He says he had learnt this
in the most celebrated schools, whether
of East or West, and that it was taught
him as the doctrine of the Fathers,
and generally received. Thus when, at
the instance of Pope Damasus, he had
begun correcting the Latin text of the
New Testament, and certain "manikins"
had vehemently attacked him for "making
corrections in the Gospels in face of
the authority of the Fathers and of
general opinion," Jerome briefly
replied that he was not so utterly stupid
nor so grossly uneducated as to imagine
that the Lord's words needed any correction
or were not divinely inspired.[29] Similarly,
when explaining Ezechiel's first vision
as portraying the Four Gospels, he remarks:
That the entire body and the back were
full of eyes will be plain to anybody
who realizes that there is nought in
the Gospels which does not shine and
illumine the world by its splendor,
so that even things that seem trifling
and unimportant shine with the majesty
of the Holy Spirit.[30]
14. What he has said here of
the Gospels he applies in his Commentaries
to the rest of the Lord's words; he
regards it as the very rule and foundation
of Catholic interpretation; indeed,
for Jerome, a true prophet was to be
distinguished from a false by this very
note of truth:[31] "The Lord's
words are true; for Him to say it, means
that it is."[32] Again, "Scripture
cannot lie";[33] it is wrong to
say Scripture lies, nay, it is impious
even to admit the very notion of error
where the Bible is concerned.[34] "The
Apostles," he says, "are one
thing; other writers" - that is,
profane writers - "are another;"[35]
"the former always tell the truth;
the latter - as being mere men - sometimes
err,"[36] and though many things
are said in the Bible which seem incredible,
yet they are true;[37] in this "word
of truth" you cannot find things
or statements which are contradictory,
"there is nothing discordant nor
conflicting";[38] consequently,
"when Scripture seems to be in
conflict with itself both passages are
true despite their diversity."[39]
15. Holding principles like
these, Jerome was compelled, when he
discovered apparent discrepancies in
the Sacred Books, to use every endeavor
to unravel the difficulty. If he felt
that he had not satisfactorily settled
the problem, he would return to it again
and again, not always, indeed, with
the happiest results. Yet he would never
accuse the sacred writers of the slightest
mistake - "that we leave to impious
folk like Celsus, Porphyry, and Julian."[40]
Here he is in full agreement with Augustine,
who wrote to Jerome that to the Sacred
Books alone had he been wont to accord
such honor and reverence as firmly to
believe that none of their writers had
ever fallen into any error; and that
consequently, if in the said books he
came across anything which seemed to
run counter to the truth, he did not
think that that was really the case,
but either that his copy was defective
or that the translator had made a mistake,
or again, that he himself had failed
to understand. He continues:
Nor do I deem that you think otherwise.
Indeed, I absolutely decline to think
that you would have people read your
own books in the same way as they read
those of the Prophets and Apostles;
the idea that these latter could contain
any errors is impious.[41]
16. St. Jerome's teaching on
this point serves to confirm and illustrate
what our predecessor of happy memory,
Leo XIII, declared to be the ancient
and traditional belief of the Church
touching the absolute immunity of Scripture
from error:
So far is it from being the case that
error can be compatible with inspiration,
that, on the contrary, it not only of
its very nature precludes the presence
of error, but as necessarily excludes
it and forbids it as God, the Supreme
Truth, necessarily cannot be the Author
of error.
17. Then, after giving the definitions
of the Councils of Florence and Trent,
confirmed by the Council of the Vatican,
Pope Leo continues:
Consequently it is not to the point
to suggest that the Holy Spirit used
men as His instruments for writing,
and that therefore, while no error is
referable to the primary Author, it
may well be due to the inspired authors
themselves. For by supernatural power
the Holy Spirit so stirred them and
moved them to write, so assisted them
as they wrote, that their minds could
rightly conceive only those and all
those things which He himself bade them
conceive; only such things could they
faithfully commit to writing and aptly
express with unerring truth; else God
would not be the Author of the entirety
of Sacred Scripture.[42]
18. But although these words
of our predecessor leave no room for
doubt or dispute, it grieves us to find
that not only men outside, but even
children of the Catholic Church - nay,
what is a peculiar sorrow to us, even
clerics and professors of sacred learning
- who in their own conceit either openly
repudiate or at least attack in secret
the Church's teaching on this point.
We warmly commend, of course, those
who, with the assistance of critical
methods, seek to discover new ways of
explaining the difficulties in Holy
Scripture, whether for their own guidance
or to help others. But we remind them
that they will only come to miserable
grief if they neglect our predecessor's
injunctions and overstep the limits
set by the Fathers.
19. Yet no one can pretend that
certain recent writers really adhere
to these limitations. For while conceding
that inspiration extends to every phrase
- and, indeed, to every single word
of Scripture - yet, by endeavoring to
distinguish between what they style
the primary or religious and the secondary
or profane element in the Bible, they
claim that the effect of inspiration
- namely, absolute truth and immunity
from error - are to be restricted to
that primary or religious element. Their
notion is that only what concerns religion
is intended and taught by God in Scripture,
and that all the rest - things concerning
"profane knowledge," the garments
in which Divine truth is presented -
God merely permits, and even leaves
to the individual author's greater or
less knowledge. Small wonder, then,
that in their view a considerable number
of things occur in the Bible touching
physical science, history and the like,
which cannot be reconciled with modern
progress in science!
20. Some even maintain that
these views do not conflict with what
our predecessor laid down since - so
they claim - he said that the sacred
writers spoke in accordance with the
external - and thus deceptive - appearance
of things in nature. But the Pontiff's
own words show that this is a rash and
false deduction. For sound philosophy
teaches that the senses can never be
deceived as regards their own proper
and immediate object. Therefore, from
the merely external appearance of things
- of which, of course, we have always
to take account as Leo XIII, following
in the footsteps of St. Augustine and
St. Thomas, most wisely remarks - we
can never conclude that there is any
error in Sacred Scripture.
21. Moreover, our predecessor,
sweeping aside all such distinctions
between what these critics are pleased
to call primary and secondary elements,
says in no ambiguous fashion that "those
who fancy that when it is a question
of the truth of certain expressions
we have not got to consider so much
what God said as why He said it,"
are very far indeed from the truth.
He also teaches that Divine inspiration
extends to every part of the Bible without
the slightest exception, and that no
error can occur in the inspired text:
"It would be wholly impious to
limit inspiration to certain portions
only of Scripture or to concede that
the sacred authors themselves could
have erred."[43]
22. Those, too, who hold that
the historical portions of Scripture
do not rest on the absolute truth of
the facts but merely upon what they
are pleased to term their relative truth,
namely, what people then commonly thought,
are - no less than are the aforementioned
critics - out of harmony with the Church's
teaching, which is endorsed by the testimony
of Jerome and other Fathers. Yet they
are not afraid to deduce such views
from the words of Leo XIII on the ground
that he allowed that the principles
he had laid down touching the things
of nature could be applied to historical
things as well. Hence they maintain
that precisely as the sacred writers
spoke of physical things according to
appearance, so, too, while ignorant
of the facts, they narrated them in
accordance with general opinion or even
on baseless evidence; neither do they
tell us the sources whence they derived
their knowledge, nor do they make other
peoples' narrative their own. Such views
are clearly false, and constitute a
calumny on our predecessor. After all,
what analogy is there between physics
and history? For whereas physics is
concerned with "sensible appearances"
and must consequently square with phenomena,
history on the contrary, must square
with the facts, since history is the
written account of events as they actually
occurred. If we were to accept such
views, how could we maintain the truth
insisted on throughout Leo XIII's Encyclical
- viz. that the sacred narrative is
absolutely free from error?
23. And if Leo XIII does say
that we can apply to history and cognate
subjects the same principles which hold
good for science, he yet does not lay
this down as a universal law, but simply
says that we can apply a like line of
argument when refuting the fallacies
of adversaries and defending the historical
truth of Scripture from their assaults.
24. Nor do modern innovators
stop here: they even try to claim St.
Jerome as a patron of their views on
the ground that he maintained that historic
truth and sequence were not observed
in the Bible, "precisely as things
actually took place, but in accordance
with what men thought at that time,"
and that he even held that this was
the true norm for history.[44] A strange
distortion of St. Jerome's words! He
does not say that when giving us an
account of events the writer was ignorant
of the truth and simply adopted the
false views then current; he merely
says that in giving names to persons
or things he followed general custom.
Thus the Evangelist calls St. Joseph
the father of Jesus, but what he meant
by the title "father" here
is abundantly clear from the whole context.
For St. Jerome "the true norm of
history" is this: when it is question
of such appellatives (as "father,"
etc), and when there is no danger or
error, then a writer must adopt the
ordinary forms of speech simply because
such forms of speech are in ordinary
use. More than this: Jerome maintains
that belief in the Biblical narrative
is as necessary to salvation as is belief
in the doctrines of the faith; thus
in his Commentary on the Epistle to
Philemon he says:
"What I mean is this: Does any
man believe in God the Creator? He cannot
do so unless he first believe that the
things written of God's Saints are true."
He then gives examples from the Old
Testament, and adds: "Now unless
a man believes all these and other things
too which are written of the Saints
he cannot believe in the God of the
Saints."[45]
25. Thus St. Jerome is in complete
agreement with St. Augustine, who sums
up the general belief of Christian antiquity
when he says:
Holy Scripture is invested with supreme
authority by reason of its sure and
momentous teachings regarding the faith.
Whatever, then, it tells us of Enoch,
Elias and Moses - that we believe. We
do not, for instance, believe that God's
Son was born of the Virgin Mary simply
because He could not otherwise have
appeared in the flesh and 'walked amongst
men' - as Faustus would have it - but
we believe it simply because it is written
in Scripture; and unless we believe
in Scripture we can neither be Christians
nor be saved.[46]
26. Then there are other assailants
of Holy Scripture who misuse principles
- which are only sound, if kept within
due bounds - in order to overturn the
fundamental truth of the Bible and thus
destroy Catholic teaching handed down
by the Fathers. If Jerome were living
now he would sharpen his keenest controversial
weapons against people who set aside
what is the mind and judgment of the
Church, and take too ready a refuge
in such notions as "implicit quotations"
or "pseudo-historical narratives,"
or in "kinds of literature"
in the Bible such as cannot be reconciled
with the entire and perfect truth of
God's word, or who suggest such origins
of the Bible as must inevitably weaken
- if not destroy - its authority.
27. What can we say of men who
in expounding the very Gospels so whittle
away the human trust we should repose
in it as to overturn Divine faith in
it? They refuse to allow that the things
which Christ said or did have come down
to us unchanged and entire through witnesses
who carefully committed to writing what
they themselves had seen or heard. They
maintain - and particularly in their
treatment of the Fourth Gospel - that
much is due of course to the Evangelists
- who, however, added much from their
own imaginations; but much, too, is
due to narratives compiled by the faithful
at other periods, the result, of course,
being that the twin streams now flowing
in the same channel cannot be distinguished
from one another. Not thus did Jerome
and Augustine and the other Doctors
of the Church understand the historical
trustworthiness of the Gospels; yet
of it one wrote: "He who saw it
has borne witness, and his witness is
true; and he knows that he tells the
truth, and you also may believe"
(Jn. 19:35). So, too, St. Jerome: after
rebuking the heretical framers of the
apocryphal Gospels for "attempting
rather to fill up the story than to
tell it truly,"[47] he says of
the Canonical Scriptures: "None
can doubt but that what is written took
place."[48] Here again he is in
fullest harmony with Augustine, who
so beautifully says: "These things
are true; they are faithfully and truthfully
written of Christ; so that whosoever
believes His Gospel may be thereby instructed
in the truth and misled by no lie."[49]
28. All this shows us how earnestly
we must strive to avoid, as children
of the Church, this insane freedom in
ventilating opinions which the Fathers
were careful to shun. This we shall
more readily achieve if you, Venerable
Brethren, will make both clergy and
laity committed to your care by the
Holy Spirit realize that neither Jerome
nor the other Fathers of the Church
learned their doctrine touching Holy
Scripture save in the school of the
Divine Master Himself. We know what
He felt about Holy Scripture: when He
said, "It is written," and
"the Scripture must needs be fulfilled,"
we have therein an argument which admits
of no exception and which should put
an end to all controversy.
29. Yet it is worthwhile dwelling
on this point a little: when Christ
preached to the people, whether on the
Mount by the lakeside, or in the synagogue
at Nazareth, or in His own city of Capharnaum,
He took His points and His arguments
from the Bible. From the same source
came His weapons when disputing with
the Scribes and Pharisees. Whether teaching
or disputing He quotes from all parts
of Scripture and takes His example from
it; He quotes it as an argument which
must be accepted. He refers without
any discrimination of sources to the
stories of Jonas and the Ninivites,
of the Queen of Sheba and Solomon, of
Elias and Eliseus, of David and of Noe,
of Lot and the Sodomites, and even of
Lot's wife. (cf. Mt. 12:3, 39-42; Lk.
17:26-29, 32). How solemn His witness
to the truth of the sacred books: "One
jot, or one tittle shall not pass of
the Law till all be fulfilled"
(Mt. 5:18); and again: "The Scripture
cannot be broken" (Jn. 10:35);
and consequently: "He therefore
that shall break one of these least
commandments, and shall so teach men
shall be called the least in the kingdom
of heaven" (Mt. 5:19). Before His
Ascension, too, when He would steep
His Apostles in the same doctrine: "He
opened their understanding that they
might understand the Scriptures. And
He said to them: thus it is written,
and thus it behoved Christ to suffer,
and to rise again from the dead the
third day" (Lk. 24:45).
30. In a word, then: Jerome's
teaching on the superexcellence and
truth of Scripture is Christ's teaching.
Wherefore we exhort all the Church's
children, and especially those whose
duty it is to teach in seminaries, to
follow closely in St. Jerome's footsteps.
If they will but do so they will learn
to prize as he prized the treasure of
the Scriptures, and will derive from
them most abundant and blessed fruit.
31. Now, if we make use of the
"Greatest of Doctors" as our
guide and teacher we shall derive from
so doing not only the gains signalized
above, but others too, which cannot
be regarded as trifling or few. What
these gains are, Venerable Brethren,
we will set out briefly. At the outset,
then, we are deeply impressed by the
intense love of the Bible which St.
Jerome exhibits in his whole life and
teaching: both are steeped in the Spirit
of God. This intense love of the Bible
he was ever striving to kindle in the
hearts of the faithful, and his words
on this subject to the maiden Demetrias
are really addressed to us all: "Love
the Bible and wisdom will love you;
love it and it will preserve you; honor
it and it will embrace you; these are
the jewels which you should wear on
your breast and in your ears."[50]
32. His unceasing reading of
the Bible and his painstaking study
of each book - nay, of every phrase
and word - gave him a knowledge of the
text such as no other ecclesiastical
writer of old possessed. It is due to
this familiarity with the text and to
his own acute judgment that the Vulgate
version Jerome made is, in the judgment
of all capable men, preferable to any
other ancient version, since it appears
to give us the sense of the original
more accurately and with greater elegance
than they. The said Vulgate, "approved
by so many centuries of use in the Church"
was pronounced by the Council of Trent
"authentic," and the same
Council insisted that it was to be used
in teaching and in the liturgy.[51]
If God in His mercy grants us life,
we sincerely hope to see an amended
and faithfully restored edition. We
have no doubt that when this arduous
task - entrusted by our predecessor,
Pius X, to the Benedictine Order - has
been completed it will prove of great
assistance in the study of the Bible.
33. But to return to St. Jerome's
love of the Bible: this is so conspicuous
in his letters that they almost seem
woven out of Scripture texts; and, as
St. Bernard found no taste in things
which did not echo the most sweet Name
of Jesus, so no literature made any
appeal to Jerome unless it derived its
light from Holy Scripture. Thus he wrote
to Paulinus, formerly senator and even
consul, and only recently converted
to the faith:
If only you had this foundation (knowledge
of Scripture); nay, more - if you would
let Scripture give the finishing touches
to your work - I should find nothing
more beautiful, more learned, even nothing
more Latin than your volumes. . . If
you could but add to your wisdom and
eloquence study of and real acquaintance
with Holy Scripture, we should speedily
have to acknowledge you a leader amongst
us.[52]
34. How we are to seek for this
great treasure, given as it is by our
Father in heaven for our solace during
this earthly pilgrimage, St. Jerome's
example shows us. First, we must be
well prepared and must possess a good
will. Thus Jerome himself, immediately
on his baptism, determined to remove
whatever might prove a hindrance to
his ambitions in this respect. Like
the men who found a treasure and "for
joy thereof went and sold all that he
had and bought that field" (Mt.
13:44), so did Jerome say farewell to
the idle pleasures of this passing world;
he went into the desert, and since he
realized what risks he had run in the
past through the allurements of vice,
he adopted a most severe style of life.
With all obstacles thus removed he prepared
his soul for "the knowledge of
Jesus Christ" and for putting on
Him Who was "meek and humble of
heart." But he went through what
Augustine also experienced when he took
up the study of Scripture. For the latter
has told us how, steeped as a youth
in Cicero and profane authors, the Bible
seemed to him unfit to be compared with
Cicero.
My swelling pride shrank from its modest
garb, while my gaze could not pierce
to what the latter hid. Of a truth Scripture
was meant to grow up with the childlike;
but then I could not be childlike; turgid
eloquence appealed mightily to me.[53]
So, too, St. Jerome; even though withdrawn
into the desert he still found such
delight in profane literature that at
first he failed to discern the lowly
Christ in His lowly Scriptures:
Wretch that I was! I read Cicero even
before I broke my fast! And after the
long night-watches, when memory of my
past sins wrung tears from my soul,
even then I took up my Plautus! Then
perhaps I would come to my senses and
would start reading the Prophets. But
their uncouth language made me shiver,
and, since blind eyes do not see the
light, I blamed the sun and not my own
eyes.[54]
35. But in a brief space Jerome
became so enamored of the "folly
of the Cross" that he himself serves
as a proof of the extent to which a
humble and devout frame of mind is conducive
to the understanding of Holy Scripture.
He realized that "in expounding
Scripture we need God's Holy Spirit";[55]
he saw that one cannot otherwise read
or understand it "than the Holy
Spirit by Whom it was written demands."[56]
Consequently, he was ever humbly praying
for God's assistance and for the light
of the Holy Spirit, and asking his friends
to do the same for him. We find him
commending to the Divine assistance
and to his brethren's prayers his Commentaries
on various books as he began them, and
then rendering God due thanks when completed.
36. As he trusted to God's grace,
so too did he rely upon the authority
of his predecessors: "What I have
learned I did not teach myself - a wretchedly
presumptous teacher! - but I learned
it from illustrious men in the Church."[57]
Again: "In studying Scripture I
never trusted to myself."[58] To
Theophilus, Bishop of Alexandria, he
imparted the rule he had laid down for
his own student life: "It has always
been my custom to fight for the prerogatives
of a Christian, not to overpass the
limits set by the Fathers, always to
bear in mind that Roman faith praised
by the Apostle."[59]
37. He ever paid submissive
homage to the Church, our supreme teacher
through the Roman Pontiffs. Thus, with
a view to putting an end to the controversy
raging in the East concerning the mystery
of the Holy Trinity, he submitted the
question to the Roman See for settlement,
and wrote from the Syrian desert to
Pope Damasus as follows:
I decided, therefore, to consult the
Chair of Peter and that Roman faith
which the Apostle praised; I ask for
my soul's food from that city wherein
I first put on the garment of Christ.
. .I, who follow no other leader save
Christ, associate myself with Your Blessedness,
in communion, that is, with the Chair
of Peter. For I know the Church was
built upon that Rock. . . I beg you
to settle this dispute. If you desire
it I shall not be afraid to say there
are Three Hypostases. If it is your
wish let them draw up a Symbol of faith
subsequent to that of Nicaea, and let
us orthodox praise God in the same form
of words as the Arians employ.[60]
38. And in his next letter:
"Meanwhile I keep crying out, 'Any
man who is joined to Peter's Chair,
he is my man'."[61] Since he had
learnt this "rule of faith"
from his study of the Bible, he was
able to refute a false interpretation
of a Biblical text with the simple remark:
"Yes, but the Church of God does
not admit that."[62] When, again,
Vigilantius quoted an Apocryphal book,
Jerome was content to reply: "A
book I have never so much as read! For
what is the good of soiling one's hands
with a book the Church does not receive?"[63]
With his strong insistence on adhering
to the integrity of the faith, it is
not to be wondered at that he attacked
vehemently those who left the Church;
he promptly regarded them as his own
personal enemies. "To put it briefly,"
he says, "I have never spared heretics,
and have always striven to regard the
Church's enemies as my own."[64]
To Rufinus he writes: "There is
one point in which I cannot agree with
you: you ask me to spare heretics -
or, in other words - not to prove myself
a Catholic."[65] Yet at the same
time Jerome deplored the lamentable
state of heretics, and adjured them
to return to their sorrowing Mother,
the one source of salvation;[66] he
prayed, too, with all earnestness for
the conversion of those "who had
quitted the Church and put away the
Holy Spirit's teaching to follow their
own notions."[67]
39. Was there ever a time, Venerable
Brethren, when there was greater call
than now for us all, lay and cleric
alike, to imbibe the spirit of this
"Greatest of Doctors"? For
there are many contumacious folk now
who sneer at the authority and government
of God, Who has revealed Himself, and
of the Church which teaches. You know
- for Leo XIII warned us - "how
insistently men fight against us; You
know the arms and arts they rely upon."[68]
It is your duty, then, to train as many
really fit defenders of this holiest
of causes as you can. They must be ready
to combat not only those who deny the
existence of the Supernatural Order
altogether, and are thus led to deny
the existence of any divine revelation
or inspiration, but those, too, who
- through an itching desire for novelty
- venture to interpret the sacred books
as though they were of purely human
origin; Those, too, who scoff at opinions
held of old in the Church, or who, through
contempt of its teaching office, either
reck little of, or silently disregard,
or at least obstinately endeavor to
adapt to their own views, the Constitutions
of the Apostolic See or the decisions
of the Pontifical Biblical Commission.
Would that all Catholics would cling
to St. Jerome's golden rule and obediently
listen to their Mother's words, so as
modestly to keep within the bounds marked
out by the Fathers and ratified by the
Church.
40. To return, however, to the
question of the formation of Biblical
students. We must lay the foundations
in piety and humility of mind; only
when we have done that does St. Jerome
invite us to study the Bible. In the
first place, he insists, in season and
out, on daily reading of the text. "Provided,"
he says, "our bodies are not the
slaves of sin, wisdom will come to us;
but exercise your mind, feed it daily
with Holy Scripture."[69] And again:
"We have got, then, to read Holy
Scripture assiduously; we have got to
meditate on the Law of God day and night
so that, as expert money-changers, we
may be able to detect false coin from
true."[70]
41. For matrons and maidens
alike he lays down the same rule. Thus,
writing to the Roman matron Laeta about
her daughter's training, he says:
Every day she should give you a definite
account of her Bible-reading . . .For
her the Bible must take the place of
silks and jewels . . . Let her learn
the Psalter first, and find her recreation
in its songs; let her learn from Solomon's
Proverbs the way of life, from Ecclesiastes
how to trample on the world. In Job
she will find an example of patient
virtue. Thence let her pass to the Gospels;
they should always be in her hands.
She should steep herself in the Acts
and the Epistles. And when she has enriched
her soul with these treasures she should
commit to memory the Prophets, the Heptateuch,
Kings and Chronicles, Esdras and Esther:
then she can learn the Canticle of Canticles
without any fear."[71]
42. He says the same to Eustochium:
"Read assiduously and learn as
much as you can. Let sleep find you
holding your Bible, and when your head
nods let it be resting on the sacred
page."[72]
When he sent Eustochium the epitaph
he had composed for her mother Paula,
he especially praised that holy woman
for having so wholeheartedly devoted
herself and her daughter to Bible study
that she knew the Bible through and
through, and had committed it to memory.
He continues:
I will tell you another thing about
her, though evil-disposed people may
cavil at it: she determined to learn
Hebrew, a language which I myself, with
immense labor and toil from my youth
upwards, have only partly learned, and
which I even now dare not cease studying
lest it should quit me. But Paula learned
it, and so well that she could chant
the Psalms in Hebrew, and could speak
it, too, without any trace of a Latin
accent. We can see the same thing even
now in her daughter Eustochium.[73]
43. He tells us much the same
of Marcella, who also knew the Bible
exceedingly well.[74] And none can fail
to see what profit and sweet tranquillity
must result in well-disposed souls from
such devout reading of the Bible. Whosoever
comes to it in piety, faith and humility,
and with determination to make progress
in it, will assuredly find therein and
will eat the "Bread that cometh
down from heaven" (Jn. 6:33); he
will, in his own person, experience
the truth of David's words: "The
hidden and uncertain things of Thy Wisdom
Thou hast made manifest to me!"
(Ps. 50:8), for this table of the "Divine
Word" does really "contain
holy teaching, teach the true faith,
and lead us unfalteringly beyond the
veil into the Holy of Holies."[75]
Hence, as far as in us lies, we, Venerable
Brethren, shall, with St. Jerome as
our guide, never desist from urging
the faithful to read daily the Gospels,
the Acts and the Epistles, so as to
gather thence food for their souls.
44. Our thoughts naturally turn
just now to the Society of St. Jerome,
which we ourselves were instrumental
in founding; its success has gladdened
us, and we trust that the future will
see a great impulse given to it.
The object of this Society is to put
into the hands of as many people as
possible the Gospels and Acts, so that
every Christian family may have them
and become accustomed to reading them.
This we have much at heart, for we have
seen how useful it is. We earnestly
hope, then, that similar Societies will
be founded in your dioceses and affiliated
to the parent Society here.
Commendation, too, is due to Catholics
in other countries who have published
the entire New Testament, as well as
selected portions of the Old, in neat
and simple form so as to popularize
their use. Much again must accrue to
the Church of God when numbers of people
thus approach this table of heavenly
instruction which the Lord provided
through the ministry of His Prophets,
Apostles and Doctors for the entire
Christian world.
45. If, then, St. Jerome begs
for assiduous reading of the Bible by
the faithful in general, he insists
on it for those who are called to "bear
the yoke of Christ" and preach
His word. His words to Rusticus the
monk apply to all clerics:
So long as you are in your own country
regard you cell as your orchard; there
you can gather Scripture's various fruits
and enjoy the pleasures it affords you.
Always have a book in your hands and
read it; learn the Psalter by heart;
pray unceasingly; watch over your senses
lest idle thoughts creep in.[76] Similarly
to Nepotian:
Constantly read the Bible; in fact,
have it always in your hands. Learn
what you have got to teach. Get firm
hold of that "faithful word that
is according to doctrine, that you may
be able to exhort in sound doctrine
and convince the gainsayers."[77]
When reminding Paulinus of the lessons
St. Paul gave to Timothy and Titus,
and which he himself had derived from
the Bible, Jerome says:
A mere holy rusticity only avails the
man himself; but however much a life
so meritorious may serve to build up
the Church of God, it does as much harm
to the Church if it fails to "resist
the gainsayer." Malachias the Prophet
says, or rather the Lord says it by
Malachias: "Ask for the Law from
the priests." For it is the priest's
duty to give an answer when asked about
the Law. In Deuteronomy we read: "Ask
thy father and he will tell thee; ask
the priests and they will tell thee.
. ." Daniel, too, at the close
of his glorious vision, declares that
"the just shall shine like stars
and they that are learned as the brightness
of the firmament." What a vast
difference, then, between a righteous
rusticity and a learned righteousness!
The former likened to the stars; the
latter to the heavens themselves![78]
He writes ironically to Marcella about
the "self-righteous lack of education"
noticeable in some clerics, who "think
that to be without culture and to be
holy are the same thing, and who dub
themselves 'disciples of the fisherman';
as though they were holy simply because
ignorant!"[79]
Nor is it only the "uncultured"
whom Jerome condemns. Learned clerics
sin through ignorance of the Bible;
therefore he demands of them an assiduous
reading of the text.
46. Strive, then, Venerable
Brethren, to bring home to your clerics
and priests these teachings of the Sainted
Commentator. You have to remind them
constantly of the demands made by their
divine vocation if they would be worthy
of it: "The lips of the priest
shall keep knowledge, and men shall
ask the Law at his mouth, for he is
the Angel of the Lord of hosts"
(Mal. 2:7). They must realize, then,
that they cannot neglect study of the
Bible, and that this can only be undertaken
along the lines laid down by Leo XIII
in his Encyclical Providentissimus Deus.[80]
They cannot do this better than by frequenting
the Biblical Institute established by
our predecessor, Pius X, in accordance
with the wishes of Leo XIII. As the
experience of the past ten years has
shown, it has proved a great gain to
the Church. Not all, however, can avail
themselves of this. It will be well,
then, Venerable Brethren, that picked
men, both of the secular and regular
clergy, should come to Rome for Biblical
study. All will not come with the same
object. Some, in accordance with the
real purpose of the Institute, will
so devote themselves to Biblical study
that "afterwards, both in private
and in public, whether by writing or
by teaching, whether as professors in
Catholic schools or by writing in defense
of Catholic truth, they may be able
worthily to uphold the cause of Biblical
study.<<<<<<<<<<"
Others, however, already priests, will
obtain here a wider knowledge of the
Bible than they were able to acquire
during their theological course; they
will gain, too, an acquaintance with
the great commentators and with Biblical
history and geography. Such knowledge
will avail them much in their ministry;
they will be "instructed to every
good work."[81]
47. We learn, then, from St.
Jerome's example and teaching the qualities
required in one who would devote himself
to Biblical study. But what, in his
view, is the goal of such study? First,
that from the Bible's pages we learn
spiritual perfection. Meditating as
he did day and night on the Law of the
Lord and on His Scriptures, Jerome himself
found there the "Bread that cometh
down from heaven," the manna containing
all delights.[82] And we certainly cannot
do without that bread. How can a cleric
teach others the way of salvation if
through neglect of meditation on God's
word he fails to teach himself? What
confidence can he have that, when ministering
to others, he is really "a leader
of the blind, a light to them that are
in darkness, an instructor of the foolish,
having the form of knowledge and of
truth in the law," if he is unwilling
to study the said Law and thus shuts
the door on any divine illumination
on it?
Alas! many of God's ministers, through
never looking at their Bible, perish
themselves and allow many others to
perish also. "The children have
asked for bread, and there was none
to break it unto them" (Lam. 4:4);
and "With desolation is all the
land made desolate, for there is none
than meditateth in the heart" (Jer.
12:11).
48. Secondly, it is from the
Bible that we gather confirmations and
illustrations of any particular doctrine
we wish to defend. In this Jerome was
marvelously expert. When disputing with
the heretics of his day he refuted them
by singularly apt and weighty arguments
drawn from the Bible. If men of the
present age would but imitate him in
this we should see realized what our
predecessor, Leo XIII, in his Encyclical,
Providentissimus Deus, said was so eminently
desirable: "The Bible influencing
our theological teaching and indeed
becoming its very soul."[83]
49. Lastly, the real value of
the Bible is for our preaching - if
the latter is to be fruitful. On this
point it is a pleasure to illustrate
from Jerome what we ourselves said in
our Encyclical on "preaching the
Word of God," entitled Humani generis.
How insistently Jerome urges on priests
assiduous reading of the Bible if they
would worthily teach and preach! Their
words will have neither value nor weight
nor any power to touch men's souls save
in proportion as they are "informed"
by Holy Scripture: "Let a priest's
speech be seasoned with the Bible,"[84]
for "the Scriptures are a trumpet
that stirs us with a mighty voice and
penetrates to the soul of them that
believe,"[85] and "nothing
so strikes home as an example taken
from the Bible."[86]
50. These mainly concern the
exegetes, yet preachers, too, must always
bear them in mind. Jerome's first rule
is careful study of the actual words
so that we may be perfectly certain
what the writer really does say. He
was most careful to consult the original
text, to compare various versions, and,
if he discovered any mistake in them,
to explain it and thus make the text
perfectly clear. The precise meaning,
too, that attaches to particular words
has to be worked out, for "when
discussing Holy Scripture it is not
words we want so much as the meaning
